/kwaɪt/
OriginA development of quit, influence by Anglo-Norman quite. Doublet of coy, quit, quiet, and quietus. For an analogous semantic development from the same root, compare Armenian շատ (šat).
- not-comparableWith verbs, especially past participles.
“Thus when they had the witch diſrobed quight, / And all her filthy feature open ſhowne, / They let her goe at will, and wander waies vnknowne.”
“Nobuyoshi Araki has been called a monster, a pornographer and a genius—and the photographer quite agrees.”
- not-comparableWith prepositional phrases and spatial adverbs.
“Margaret passed quite through the pines, and reached the opening beyond which was what was once the yard, but was now, except for a strip of flower-border and turf which showed care, simply a tangle o”
“Religion and parochial etiquette are probed to reveal unhealthy, and sometimes shockingly violent, internal desires quite at odds with the surface life of a town in which tolerance is preached.”
- not-comparableWith predicative adjectives.
“El adrea was quite dead. No more will he slink silently upon his unsuspecting prey.”
“It was almost quite dark in there and she kept her arms stretched out in front of her so as not to bump her face into the back of the wardrobe.”
“In Lejeuneaceae vegetative branches normally originate from the basiscopic basal portion of a lateral segment half, as in the Radulaceae, and the associated leaves, therefore, are quite unmodified.”
- not-comparableWith attributive adjectives, following an (especially indefinite) article; chiefly as expressing contrast, difference etc.
“When I warned him that his words might be offensive to identical twins, he said that identical twins were a quite different case.”
“Create a new, quite separate, private company – say Murdoch Newspaper Holdings – and give it all, or most of, the papers that News Corp owns.”
- not-comparablePreceding nouns introduced by the indefinite article. Chiefly in negative constructions.
“I ventured to hint that he was not quite a fair judge, as [Charles] Churchill had attacked him violently.”
“And with a prolonged sound, not quite a sniff and not quite a snort, he trod on Euphemia's toe, and went out, leaving a sensation and a faint scent of barley−sugar behind him.”
- not-comparableWith adverbs of manner.
“However, the proceedings were quite carefully orchestrated to produce what seemed to be a predetermined outcome.”
“Higher education institutions in the UK are, quite rightly, largely autonomous.”
- not-comparableComing before the indefinite article and an attributive adjective. (Now largely merged with moderative senses, below.)
“"My little plot has been rather successful, after all, hasn't it?" "Quite a perfect success," said Drake.”
“While the government claims to lead the world with its plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the figures tell quite a different story.”
- not-comparableWith plain adjectives, past participles, and adverbs.
““My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. / Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. / “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if y”
“London Underground is quite unique in how many front line staff it has, as anyone who has travelled on the Paris Metro or New York Subway will testify.”
- not-comparableComing before the definite article and an attributive superlative.
“Laploshka was one of the meanest men I have ever met, and quite one of the most entertaining.”
“Scaramouche has already been greeted as the finest French Revolution yet brought to the screen-and even if you are a little weary of seeing a strongly American band of sans-culottes demolish a pastebo”
- not-comparableBefore a noun preceded by an indefinite article; now often with ironic implications that the noun in question is particularly noteworthy or remarkable.
“To debauch the Indians with rum and cheat them of their land was quite a Government affair, and not at all criminal; but to use rum to cheat them of their peltry, was an abomination in the sight of th”
““Looks like you and Clay had quite a party,” she said with a glimmer in her dark blue eyes.”
- not-comparableBefore a noun preceded by the definite article.
“It's not quite the colour I am looking for.”
“It is quite the proper thing for a lady to be on intimate, and even on affectionate, terms with her favourite clergyman, and Lizzie certainly had intercourse with no clergyman who was a greater favour”
“His memoir features a child named Tommy Nothing Fancy who suffers from and dies of a seizure disorder. Quite the coincidence, don't you think?”
- archaic, not-comparableWith prepositional or adverbial phrases.
- not-comparableTo a moderate extent or degree; somewhat, rather.
“Mind your shoes, the basement is quite wet.”
- UKIndicates agreement; exactly so.
““That's a rather ugly colour for a house, don't you think?” — “Quite.””
- A series of passes made with the cape to distract the bull.
Formsquight(alternative, obsolete) · quites(plural)